APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Announces $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 22nd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd.

APA has increased its dividend by an average of 45.5% annually over the last three years. APA has a payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect APA to earn $5.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.5%.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $32.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 3.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.60 and its 200 day moving average is $31.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. APA has a one year low of $27.17 and a one year high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.12). APA had a return on equity of 45.32% and a net margin of 34.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that APA will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank cut their target price on APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on APA from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial cut their price target on APA from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.18.

About APA

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.